Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-02-24
WHAT'S In A NAME?
Some Wonderful Specimens Prov
ing It's Significance.
Surnames Descriptive of Mental Character
istics, Occupations, Personal Appear
ance, Etc.--The Advantage of
Having q Good Name.

y
entering the world were assigned
number the plan would have many
features to recommend it. Directo-
ries would be simplified; there would
be no chance of confusion with twenty
four Mrs. Joneses in one place, and to
address letter to you would have
nothing to do but write on the envelope,
say: "No. 9,243,769, Esq" But with
these manifest advantages there would
be considerable loss. When Juliet said:
whats in a namep" she talked, as
lovers often GO, at random. Her speech
to Romeo Montague is beautiful, but it
is not logic. She was, indeed, as any
one with critical eye can see, in the
strangest confusion about the difference
between Christian and surname.
That Romeo did not correct her on the
instant can only be accounted for by
the fact that he himself was not in a
fit state of mind for playing the in
structor There is great deal in sur
names. What glimpses of old life they
sometimes give us; they are little bits
of history; revelations of human in
terest; scraps of poetry and humor;
notes of affection, ridicule, sarcasm and
impertinence; often stories condensed
into a single word. A large number of
surnames consist of the fathers name
with the addition of "son," OF an equiv
alent for son, like Mac or Fitz. ''Names
of this sort often fuctuate from genera
ton to generation. Alan Waterson, for
example, had son Walter who called
himself Walter Allanson." Other names
are purely local in origin, names such
as Dale, Brook, Marsh, Land, Wood
and Heath. Among local names we
may also include Kent, Cornish, Wilt
shire, Devonish, Ireland, Welsh and
such like. Granville may be classed
among local names. 1t is told that
Lord Lyttleton once disputed with the
head of the Granvilles, which was of
the older family, asserting his own to
be of the more ancient, inasmuch as
the little town must necessarily have
existed before the grande vile. Offices,
occupation and condition gave rise to
other names. Thus we have Smith,
Cook, Shepherd, Plowman, Knight, Cor
ner (Coroner), Archer, Singer, Justice,
Provost, Dresser, Chapman, Borbour
and host of more. The surnames of
occupation form wonderful guide to
the industries Of our forefathers. Those
who kept shops or inns got surnames
from their signs, practice which
accounts for many surnames of
fanciful order. John at the Bell
became John Bell; Thomas at the
Rose became Thomas Rose; Oliver
at the Thorne became Oliver Thorne;
and Nicholas at the Sparrow became
Nicholas Sparrow. A large class of
names is devoted to the description of
personal appearance, manner and
character. We find outward peculiar
titles indicated in an immense number,
such as Longman, Shortman, Small
man, Big, Little, Thick, Thin, Shorter,
Stronger, Black, White and Brown.
Mental characteristics have given rise
to such surnames as Good, Patient,
Wise, Gay, Sage, Blythe, Merry, Make
peace, Grave, Sweet, Proud, Meek,
Humble and Jolly. People who re-
minded their neighbors of birds, beasts,
fish and insects have transmitted to
tha;, Jaeoao1aotc ,,apu crrpamps pf
which examples may be seen in our col
lection. Not q few names illustrating
personal appearance and character
have evidently been originally nick
names; Cruikshank, Glutton, Penny
father Cor miser, for example. Oc-
casionally, as in the case of Swindler,
the name has the air of ''giving piece
of ones mind" The frequency with
which particular names are met with
varies with the locality. In Scotland
the locality of some names is particu-
larly well defined. We have Mac
Donald, Mackenzie, Robertson and
Stewart in the north; Scott, Kerr,
Elliot, Johnston and Maxwell
in the south; Gordon, Forbes.
Grant and 0gilvie in the east;
and Campbell. Cameron, Mac
Lean and Kennedy in the west. This
arises from the clansmen having made
practice of taking the name of their
chiefs and considering themselves MEM
bers of their family by adoption, if
not otherwise. There are some
names met with in England which
appear never 10 have crossed the
border. Among those Of which En-